Associations among the parent–adolescent relationship, aggression and delinquency in different ethnic groups: a replication across two Dutch samples

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study is to examine whether the patterns of association between the quality of the parent–adolescent relationship on the one hand, and aggression and delinquency on the other hand, are the same for boys and girls of Dutch and Moroccan origin living in the Netherlands. Since inconsistent results have been found previously, the present study tests the replicability of the model of associations in two different Dutch samples of adolescents. METHOD: Study 1 included 288 adolescents (M age = 14.9, range 12–17 years) all attending lower secondary education. Study 2 included 306 adolescents (M age = 13.2, range = 12–15 years) who were part of a larger community sample with oversampling of at risk adolescents. RESULTS: Multigroup structural analyses showed that neither in Study 1 nor in Study 2 ethnic or gender differences were found in the patterns of associations between support, autonomy, disclosure, and negativity in the parent–adolescent relationship and aggression and delinquency. The patterns were largely similar for both studies. Mainly negative quality of the relationship in both studies was found to be strongly related to both aggression and delinquency. DISCUSSION: Results show that family processes that affect adolescent development, show a large degree of universality across gender and ethnicity.